


Mother's Embrace

by ohHOLYmoves



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Self-Indulgent, i just needed a fic where keyleth gets her mom back and so i wrote it for us all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:08:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27440206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohHOLYmoves/pseuds/ohHOLYmoves
Summary: Vilya returns to a child who is grown and powerful and wonderful in every way and she knows there will be time needed to grow back together. Learning about who her daughter has become requires meeting the foundations of her person in the form of Vox Machina. Oddly, though, Keyleth seems incredibly shy about anything revolving around Vex'ahlia.
Relationships: Keyleth/Vex'ahlia (Critical Role)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 155





	Mother's Embrace

Being home again is as wonderful as sitting among the flowers during midday to soak up its warmest rays but it is also awfully hard and leaves her feeling chapped and burned the way she would be for staying too long. Zephrah is the way she remembers it, in all its splendor, but it is also nothing like she remembers because it has grown and flourished under her daughter’s gentle care. Their small community has grown not just in populous but in popularity, she finds, when there is no shortage of people willing to tell her of her daughter’s exploits. A hero, they say she is, born to be a leader for it fits her better than any tailored glove could which sits funny in Vilya’s stomach. In Keyleth lies the paramount of change which was expected after twenty odd years of absence but wholly something she she wasn’t prepared for. Her daughter had taken great care to put her feet into every step Vilya had left behind then forged on ahead past that, on her own righteous path to undertake the mantle herself which is a bittersweet thing to behold. Not because Vilya is jealous—no, Gods, she hadn’t fully been prepared for the undertaking herself—but because she had partly gone on that cursed journey so that Keyleth would never have to. It still feels odd to play duckling to her own daughter, following in the long casting of her great horned shadow so that she can soak up all Keyleth can offer her now, trying to learn as quickly as she can all that she has missed. And she learns very quickly that she has missed _everything._

If Keyleth got anything from her mother it is the crippling awkwardness and anxiety of a person who is pressed into a body they haven’t gotten comfortable in yet and for that, the first few weeks are strained. There is a longing in both of them but they fumble around each other and can’t hold eyes for long but smile and laugh and it tickles Vilya’s chest with love. At the behest of her wise husband, they go much slower for both their sakes and begin again with meals at night and then, later, in the mornings before Keyleth has to jettison off for her duties. It is the slow process of peeling back the layers of dust and grime that has sullied their bond from years apart but a pleasant one. When Keyleth is too busy to drag her mother around and excitedly tell her all about the things she has done and plans to do, Vilya roams Zephrah and engages with their people to coax more information out.

Keyleth is unto a god in certain places and that is jarring at first because Vilya remembers a girl with skinned knees and a nerve rubbed so raw by her innate awkwardness she couldn’t look most folk in the eye. Vox Machina, people whisper and shout and laugh and sing, are the heroes and saviors of them all, the ones that stopped Vecna and saved the _world._ Vilya, still terribly awkward herself even at her age, had needed a few days to broach the subject with Keyleth and when she had, her daughter had turned nearly as red as her hair.

“It wasn’t that poetic. We just—we’re a bunch of assholes.” And Keyleth had flinched and gone a bit wide and feral in the eyes like she was a child again, waiting to be scolded for a curse but Vilya only smiled, albeit sadly. It was another one of those constant reminders that Keyleth was an adult now who had grown up wild and battered and strong without her mother. Mostly without her father, too, because Keyleth left young and found a new family in these _assholes._

“But you _are_ a hero, Keyleth? You did those things?”

“I mean,” Keyleth flips her hair and turns her eyes to the leaves of the branches swaying above their head, slightly pink in the cheeks but smiling, “yeah. We did. Do you…want to hear about it?” And Keyleth brings her eyes back down, full and shining and swirling with a depth of emotions that hurt Vilya to see because they are joyful and loving but despairing and _pained_ in the way of someone who has been bathed in a changing fire that birthed a stronger, different soul. What Vilya has gone through might not compare to Keyleth’s stories and, as her mother, it hurts to think that Keyleth has suffered so much without her there to offer strength and warmth and unending love. But she is here now and this is a door that Keyleth is offering into her life so she swallows against the emotions lodged in her throat, takes her daughter’s hand, and asks to hear it all.

The first one she meets is Grog Strongjaw and he is even larger than Keyleth had made him seem but just as honey-sweet and gentle when he gives her a hug so fierce it lifts her off her feet. His first words to her are, “ _Whoa,_ your leg is back! I asked ‘em if they had your old leg but they gave it a funerial. Bet I could go get it for you though, if you want?”

“No, that’s quite alright, but thank you.” She casts a quick look over at Keyleth to gauge his level of seriousness but she is receiving a hug of her own and Keyleth’s is twice as enthusiastic. If it hurts at all, Keyleth does nothing but beams and squeezes around Grog’s tree trunk of a neck. 

“Kiki! Your mom is here!” He gasps, loud and dramatic but deadly serious, and tilts his head back to catch her eye so he can whisper not at all quietly, “Did Pike bring her back?” 

Keyleth pats his shoulder lightly to que him into setting her down and gives him a fond look, “No, Grog, she didn’t.”

His face shrivels up from confusion and, with his bald head, he looks for a moment like a grey raisin, “But the lady said she was dead and now she isn’t dead. That’s Pike’s thing?”

Vilya watches the way Keyleth’s shoulders melt like a candle beneath a hot sun but it isn’t a dark emotion, rather a deeply fond one and the lilt of her lips and the gentleness of her voice as she calmly explains to him that she was never dead is telling. Grog is a bit slow but bursting with heart and eager to understand even if it takes time and patience and it is a beautiful thing to see their comradery. Vilya is happy to tag along quietly behind them as they update each other on events and happenings and, for Grog’s part, new adventures. Joy warms her to her toes to watch Keyleth unfurl her petals to his shining light and come alive, a bit of her juvenile mirth slipping into her smile and crinkling her nose as she laughs with him. Vilya missed so much but Grog is clearly one of the seven stones that have built Keyleth into the woman that she is.

“Oh!” They jerk to a halt just outside of Keyleth’s home because Grog suddenly shouts and begins twisting and jerking to reach into the deepest depths of the bag he carries on his back. From it, he pulls out a leafy green journal with an embellished crest stamped into the cover and hands it off to Keyelth who takes its blinking and surprised.

“This is from Allura. And this is from Kima,” And another item comes to surface, this one a light green bottle that is a quarter empty and stopped with a mishappen seal, “but, ah, someone had a few drinks and the thingy got broke ‘cause their hands was real big.”

Vilya frowns at the obvious bottle of liquor and Keyleth’s delight at having received it as a gift, tucking that away as a conversation for later. The journal she flips open just as Grog continues, “Allura said Vex stopped and ordered them so you two could—”

“ _Thank you!_ ” Keyleth cuts in, red faced and nervously glancing at Vilya, then back down at the opened journal only to redden further at whatever Vilya can see scrawled into the first page and slams it shut, “Thank you, Grog. For, ah, bringing these. To me. Do you you want, um, money?”

Grog quickly becomes his raisin self again while Keyleth burns under Vilya’s curious gaze because Vex is not a name Keyleth had mentioned to her yet and she wonders at it because this name clearly means a great deal to her daughter. A curious seed sets roots in her that she fully intends to see come to fruition.

Grog stays for three days and over that time Vilya makes it her mission to weasel information out of him about _Vex_ but Keyleth, who hadn’t said anything, clearly wanted it kept secret because she is somehow always around when Vilya has him cornered or he doesn’t understand her prodding and she doesn’t know him well enough to guide him into understanding. Still, she learns that the full name is Vex’ahlia and that Keyleth had mentioned her because she is another member of the group but, before, Keyleth had called her Vax’s sister rather by name and had avoided her eye when doing so. It is an interesting thing because when the name is mentioned, Keyleth tenses and ushers them quickly into a new topic which only makes Vilya more suspicious.

By the time she meets the second and, subsequently, third members of the group, Vilya is prepared with her secret agenda to harvest information about the mysterious Vex and find out what about her makes Keyleth so secretive. They travel to meet Pike and her husband Scanlan though it is not because they are incapable of reaching Zephrah but because the druid’s way of travel is simply quicker and easier. Vilya learns it is also because the couple are quite busy with their admittedly small but rowdy brood of children. They rush to Keyleth and gawk at Vilya who feels her heart melt against her ribs to see children again after being reunited with her own. She waves at them and creates a shower of flower petals to rain over their little heads and send them into giggling fits.

Pike, when she comes bursting from the house like a sunbeam splitting through a cloud, gawks at Vilya just as her young children had and begins to cry after Keyleth introduces her as _mother._

“That’s just so wonderful! You’re alive, hello! I’m Pike and I’m sorry for crying but you’re alive and,” Pike sniffs against her running nose and turns big eyes to Keyleth, “you have your mom back!”

Keyleth sniffles too and loops her arm into the crook of Vilya’s, squeezing tight like she’s the only anchor keeping Vilya from floating away. Sometimes, secretly, she is afraid of just that thing happening, and she will somehow be stuck on that blasted island again, far from Keyleth and leaving her alone, again. She curls her trembling fingers around Keyleth’s on her arm and knocks their heads together to calm herself.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” She has to stoop quite low to let Pike have the hug she stretches her arms out for and is surprised by the strength she feels in those arms, “I’m—”

“Vilya! We know, you are sort of a legend for us. Kiki’s _white whale_ if you will. Hi, I’m Scanlan.” He’s certainly as smarmy as Keyleth warned him to be but the intensity of it is blunted by the besotted look he casts upon his wife and the playful way he winks at Keyleth.

“What does that mean?” She blinks at him and turns to repeat the question to her daughter though much quieter. Keyleth shrugs.

“Just that she never gave up on you, even after they told us you were dead. They said they found your—”

“Leg, yes. Grog mentioned.” Vilya cuts in, not rudely but quickly. She does not wish for a repeated offering to retrieve what she lost and what is surely rotted away by now. Odd but endearing as it may be.

Pike seems to understand for she smiles in an overwhelmingly endearing way and simply says, “Grog?”

Vilya’s shoulders hunch in a bit and both gnomes seem to delight in the movement, watching it critically then casting their eyes to Keyleth who is mirroring the exact pose. Pike coos sweetly. Clearing her throat, Vilya answers in the affirmative and does not elaborate because something tells her she needs not.

They have supper with the gnome family and both druid women feel a bit cramped with their generous height and the close quarters of a home built for smaller folk, but it is not unpleasant. Pike is pure light and love, talking to fill the spaces where Scanlan (rarely) quiets and each time she speaks Vilya feels the words like a balm to her aching soul. When desert is finished and the children need wrestled into bed, Scanlan shoulders the task and bids Keyleth’s aid which leaves Vilya alone with Pike.

She opens her mouth to further her quest for answers, but Pike beats her to it, voice firmer than Vilya has ever heard it, “You’re going to stay this time, right?”

And the question startles her so much that she does nothing more than snap her mouth shut with a _click_ and blinks at Pike’s rapidly hardening face. For a moment, she remembers the last time she sat across from a mother and discussed returning and missing and being gone and feels a pang for the halfling. The resolve that had been planted in her then has not since faded and Vilya touches on it to keep herself strong and brave for this conversation. The maternal flame that backlights to pale color of Pike’s eyes is all Vilya needs to see to know which block Pike played in the building of Keyleth. It stings fiercely.

“I did not mean to leave her the first time.”

Pike does not waver though her face softens the slightest bit, “I know that and I’m sorry for what happened to you, really, but this is a big thing. Keyleth isn’t a little girl and maybe you came back hoping to have what you had before and if you think you can’t get it, maybe you’ll leave. And I can’t let that happen ‘cause it will break Keyleth. And,” Pike lifts her mighty shoulders and her sharp chin and the backlight becomes a full flame that turns her gaze scorching, “I won’t let that happen.”

A heavy breath slips from Vilya, her own shoulders turning soft and caving in, “You love my daughter very much and it’s clear you’ve looked after her where I could not, while I was gone.”

Pike nods and adds, “Well, we all looked after each other. She looked after us, mostly.”

“I’m…trying. It hasn’t been easy and its clear she’s still not fully comfortable with me yet and that’s okay. It’s okay if she never is. I just—I get to be home and I get to have her back and I get to _remember,”_ Her voice cracks on the word, recalling the moment it had all slammed back into her and the slow creep of older memories trickling in over the hours and days that led up to the final confrontation with Vokodo, “I get to remember her and I want to learn who she is now. I’m not—there is no need for threats, Pike. I am her _mother,_ and I am not going anywhere. You know, unless, things go awry. Again.”

The tension bleeds from Pike in one long breath and her sunshine smile returns, brighter than ever, “Good. I didn’t think you would I just had to be sure, yanno.”

Vilya does know. There is a rustling from another room and hushed voices that remind Vilya she is running low on time.

“May I ask something?”

“Of course!”

“Who is Vex? Specifically, to Keyleth, I mean. She gets,” Vilya gestures to her face and around the room, “ _flustered_ when the name is brought up.”

Vilya had expected shock or maybe a confused frown of some kind but instead Pike’s face blooms into something mischievous and she chuckles quietly against her cupped hand. So, the confused frown she had expected becomes her own.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Just,” Another stifled laugh, “She hasn’t told you?”

“Told me what?” Her curiosity burns brighter than ever and runs wild with possibilities. Are they enemies? Does she make Keyleth uncomfortable? Maybe that is why the topic is changed so quickly whenever it is brought up.

“No, no! If she hasn’t told you yet, I’m not gonna say anything! But I wonder…”

At that moment, Keyleth pops back into the room and flops down beside Vilya. Pike peers past her to pin her husband down with her sharp smile. He perks up instantly, lifting a brow high and tilting his head like he can hear the secret already.

“Keyleth hasn’t told her mom about Vex yet.”

Scanlan’s head swerves quicker than a snake’s onto Keyleth, eyes wide with the delight of someone just handed a juicy piece of meat, “Oh yeah? You haven’t told her about your—”

Keyleth smacks her hands on the table with a loud _thud,_ eyes wild and cheeks a dark ruddy red, “ _Alright!_ It was great catching up, we have to go, bye. Goodnight, I love you, bye.” Vilya is pulled up and away, seemingly fleeing from their house to the jovial sound of their mixing laughter and Keyleth’s mounting distress. Worry eats at Vilya that she had overstepped, that she was pushing into something that she ought not, that she had made a mistake that would cost her this precious thing she was rebuilding with the most important person in her life. After they step through a tree back into the familiar ground of their shared home, Vilya catches Keyleth’s arm to stop her impending departure.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I don’t mean to pry, I’m only curious. You get very tense when she is mentioned. No, I’m a little past curious now, I think. I’m worried,” Vilya blinks and pulls her touch away though leaves her hand hovering near Keyleth’s arm, wanting and wishing but anxious and careful of their new boundaries, “If that’s okay?”

“Oh! Of course, it’s—Mom, its okay.” Keyleth rushes to her the way she had when Vilya first returned and folds into her, waiting for Vilya to curl her arms around her shoulders and press fingers through her hair. They both relax, soaking up the comfort from the familiar embrace.

“I’m just…nervous. It’s a big thing. Not a bad thing! She—its great, a good thing. I’m just—I need a little more time, maybe?” Her words are muffled slightly from her face being pressed against Vilya’s neck and Vilya sighs from the joy of having her girl back. Smiling and remembering, she pulls back to press a soft kiss to Keyleth’s forehead and taps her chin with a finger.

“As much as you need. I can wait.”

When she meets Percy, she is less concerned about Vex’ahlia and why she makes her daughter blush and smile because she has figured it out all on her own. Or at least assumed that her daughter has very strong, _very_ romantic feelings for this woman. The way Keyleth carries around her green journal and fawns over every page with doting smiles, fluttering lashes, and contented sighs are telling enough. After all, Vilya was a young girl in love once herself.

Whitestone is impressive on a scale Vilya is surprised by and that, in turn, does not surprise her when she meets Percy as the city and the man match very much in the grandeur and charm. He bows to her and kisses her hand and introduces himself with the polite lilting accent of a noble man and when it tilts her a bit off kilter, Keyleth laughs sweetly and happily and she chuckles a bit too. Percy is, she learns, Keyleth’s dearest and closest friend of the group so it makes sense that he was saved for near last in the line up. He takes them on a tour but leaves most of the talking to Keyleth, standing at her elbow and watching with keen eyes as Keyleth explains and only interjects to correct facts or add more detail to them. Vilya enjoys it not just for learning about the deep and troubling history of Whitestone but also because Keyleth talks so animatedly with her, tugging her along by the hand. It shows how much growth they’ve made in this new reality where Vilya is back and they can be together again.

Eventually, Percy has tea set out and they sit down for it on a veranda overlooking the city so they can enjoy the cool wind blowing through. Vilya stays quiet, opting to listen to their banter and enjoy how spirited Keyleth gets with Percy. Only a few times is she roped into conversation, encouraged to take a side or asked questions she doesn’t much want to answer or, after a while, endure Percy’s curiosity about possibly building her a prosthetic. She politely declines and he assures her that, should she change her mind, he’d be happy and excited to develop one. The tea gets cold and that is alright because they are full and warm and done with it anyway but remain, speaking casually about things past and present.

“Would it be alright if we spent the night? I wanted to show Mom some of the stuff around town.”

A knowing look flits across Percy’s face, “You could but I don’t think you’ll want to once I give you the message that was left for you.”

Mother and daughter burn with curiosity, but it is Keyleth who encourages him to explain further.

“Vex stopped by a while back, on her way home—”

Keyleth jerks up in her seat, subtlety trying to gauge Vilya’s reaction, but she remains stoic, “Home?”

“That’s right. She wanted me to a pass a message, should you visit before she returns, that she has finished up and is set to return to you, safe and sound. And, judging the time that has elapsed—yes, I imagine she’s already there and impatiently wondering where her wife is.”

Vilya swallows the last dregs of her too cold tea and sets aside the saucer in a daze, fingers shaking enough to make the fine porcelain rattle against its saucer. _Wife,_ Percy had said. She knew her daughter was in love but this is still a surprise to her. Keyleth had grown up so quickly without Vilya and she mourned all that she had lost but she hoped there were still milestones that she could witness, marriage being a prominent one but, it would seem, this is another thing she was too late for. Vilya turns to Keyleth who has her shoulders hitched clear up to her ears and is gnawing at her bottom lip.

“Wife?” She asks though its less a question and more a breathed word of acceptance. Keyleth is _married._ Joy washes through her and her eyes suddenly feel too wet, blurring her vision of her daughter’s bashful smile.

“Surprise?”

Percy coughs albeit politely and straightens his glasses, “Oh, I apologize. I hadn’t realized this was a secret you were keeping, Kiki. I’ll excuse myself but do let me know before you leave, yes?” Quickly, he takes his leave but Vilya hardly notices for the storm brewing in chest, beneath her ribs and the way it thunders through her veins to crash in her ears with every heartbeat. They stare and then don’t, eyes on the chilled tea in the cups and Keyleth’s fingers sliding over to fiddle with the bracelet that dangles loose on Vilya’s wrist.

“Are you upset with me? For not telling you?”

“No, no, of course not, sweetie.”

“You seem upset. Are you sure?”

“Not with you, love,” Vilya sighs and smiles and tears gather on her lashes but there is resplendent joy in her and sadness too and all the things she wishes and wants but all she has she takes in her hand by cupping Keyleth’s cheek, “I just wish I could have been there.”

Tears glitter in Keyleth’s eyes now too, “I wish that too. I saved a chair for you.”

“You did?” Vilya’s stomach settles somewhere around her feet with the breath that escapes her. Keyleth brightens, growing lively the way she does with her friends and Vilya is compelled to respond in kind.

“It wasn’t a big thing. We actually talked about getting married twice, once by the Ashari traditions and again by hers, but she didn’t want that much,” Keyleth waves her hand around and shrugs, “so we settled for a little thing. Just our closest friends and Dad. It was…magical. I love her _so much._ She’s incredible and amazing and beautiful and smart and—I love her _a lot.”_

Vilya squeezes Keyleth’s hands, “I can’t wait to meet her.”

When they arrive through the tree, Keyleth is rushing Vilya towards her home all the while babbling about Vex’s hair and how strong her hands are from years of archery and other small details of love that makes Vilya smile. Outside the home, laying upon entrance matt that guards the door, is a great brown bear that has begun to go grey around his muzzle and all throughout the fur of his body. His eyes squint when his head lifts to scent the air and one of them is cloudy with age but finds the two of them regardless. He chuffs and pulls himself to a sitting position and simply waits for Keyleth to come to him, hands rubbing his snout and behind his ears.

“Hey Buddy! I missed you!” He gets a series of kisses along the wide arch of his head before Keyleth steps aside to let Vilya closer, “Mom, this is Trinket. Vex’s bear. Trinket, this is my mom.”

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” Vilya holds out a hand, palm up, and delights when he drops his head into it with an expectancy of scratches and devoted attention. “You’re a lovely young gentleman.”

“Okay, you wait here.”

Vilya blinks in surprise, hands stilling in the attentions being gifted to Trinket, “Have you changed your mind?”

“No, no. I just think I should go in first. To make sure Vex is…ready. She could be taking a bath!”

Most houses within Zephrah were not built with their own baths inside them which they both know but Vilya smiles and nods because she understands love and desire. She settles on the matt beside Trinket and waves her daughter off, leaning against his hulking mass that smells faintly of mossy undergrowth.

“Do you suppose she’ll like me, Trinket?” A low rumble tickles where she leans against him and she takes that to be a hopeful sound. Behind her, inside the home, there are faint sounds of happy voices and lilting laughter and, after that, a still quiet that Vilya knows the meaning of. When Keyleth pokes her head out to summon Vilya in, her mouth has turned a little darker from the lipstick smearing it that isn’t her own. Smiling to herself, Vilya motions to her mouth as she moves inside the quaint home of the tempest.

Vex’ahlia is sat at the small wooden table that was carved for Vilya as a wedding gift long before Keyleth was born, feet kicked atop it and leaned back in her chair. A long, thick braid rolls off her back and nearly touches the floor, interwoven with metal vines and real flowers. Her eyes are sharp, flinty with distrust and keen inspection, but turn to cinnamon and sugar when they flick to Keyleth at her elbow. She stands in a smooth motion that speaks of her natural grace and gives Vilya a tilt of her head with a crooked smirk. She thinks, perhaps, it is intended to offer the same kind of charm that Percy portrayed if not a smidge more seductive in nature but it is hindered by the thick gauze that is dressing half her face and hedges towards her right eye. Years spent as Vo’s leader has made her empathy run even deeper and reuniting with her lost daughter has left her fragile and open so, despite Vex being a near stranger, Vilya’s heart freezes at the sight and she takes a half step forward with a hand outstretched.

“Your face…” She says it softly, pained the way only a mother’s can be. Beside her, Keyleth makes an unhappy sound in agreement. The flint in Vex’s eyes disappears with their widening and her mouth parts slightly in shock due to Vilya touching the pads of her fingers to Vex’s bruised jaw. Frowning, she turns her head towards her daughter but keeps her eyes on Vex as she tilts her towards the light.

“Is this something that happens often?”

“No,” Keyleth’s tone is hard edged but not colored dark with true anger which draws a meager, amused smile from her wife, “but more often than I’d like.”

“Let me—” She summons magic to her palm, a softly glowing sea green that promises healing but Vex pulls back with a raised eyebrow. Keyleth rolls her eyes and taps her mother’s elbow to signal her to sit down before she moves towards the stove and begins the process of brewing coffee. Vilya has learned since returning that Keyleth isn’t the biggest fan of coffee, preferring instead a good cup of tea, but the way Vex perked up at the first waif of the beans answers her curiosities Vilya had towards it being made.

“She doesn’t let anyone heal _those_ injuries. Not even _me._ ”

Vilya blinks, “I don’t understand.”

Keyleth hums and throws a fondly exasperated look at her wife over the pot, “Neither do I.”

“As I’ve said many times, darling, the hunt is a precious honor and one of which I do in Pelor’s name. It feels like cheating to wipe away the things that happened afterwards.” Vex flops back down into her chair, opposite of the one Vilya tentatively takes, and fixes her keen eyes back on her, softer after the previous exchange, but no less scrutinizing. Briefly, Vilya considers the possibility that Keyleth waited to tell her about the fact that she was married not just for her own nerves but also because Vex would be the hardest of the group to impress with her return. Her _daughter-in-law_ has the eyes of a hunter that never stray from their slow intake of her posture and her mannerisms from the slightly anxious way she smiles to the way she rapidly taps the outside of her thumb against the table.

“You two are annoyingly similar.” She says at last with a pointed look at her tapping. Behind her, Keyleth makes a funny little sound and wiggles her thumb over her shoulder. At once, Vilya removes her hands from the table and drops them into her lap. One of Vex’s perfect brows ticks up as if she is surprised that the single comment was enough to make her stop.

“So, you’re my daughter’s wife. I’ll admit you’re not the sort I pictured Keyleth to show interest in.”

The pleasant, suave way Vex’s face rests naturally downturns into something sour and distrustful, “No? Someone more suited for her status, I imagine. Or someone who looks a little less like me?” On her way to the table, Keyleth’s eyes widen at the last comment and she stumbles, nearly dropping the cups she’s balancing. In a flash, Vex reaches out to stable her at the small of her back and catches a wayward cup in her opposite hand. Flushed but appreciative, Keyleth mumbles her thanks and pecks her brow. Her cheeks are still a becoming shade of red when she settles beside Vex, staring down into her coffee. 

“No, none of that. I just assumed she’d like someone a bit taller.” Vilya cracks a small smile, delighted by her own joke but it grows when Keyleth chokes down a laugh. Vex, for all her charm and easy natural allure, _pouts_ and makes sure Keyleth sees this. Watching them as she sips the potent brew warming her hands, the couple erupt into a boisterous and playful fight that finally allows for Vilya to see a truer side of Vex. One that lights this home up like the sun and feeds the leafy green in Keyleth’s bones, giving life with each small affection and tender ribbing. The love between them is of a multilayered make and the complexity is heartwarming to see. There is a forged bond that, she suspects, has been tested by some of the worst things in this world and has yet to be broken. Their many years spent together are potent in the easy way Keyleth unfurls here, under the doting gaze of Vex’s ever loving light. Yet, past the love they have built together, there is a natural way in which they love each other that comes without thought. Vilya wonders how long it took for them to realize that their jagged edges fit together, were possibly made to fit together, and if it was a struggle. She wouldn’t ask them now; she wouldn’t dare sour this beautiful moment she feels lucky to preview. It does do the trick of at last easing the final few wrinkles of Vilya’s worry for Keyleth’s happiness.

Setting her cup down breaks the moment between them like she broke a window or rung a bell because Keyleth starts almost as if she forgot Vilya was there. It makes her smile, softly, beyond happy. Keyleth had not lied, she loves Vex _very_ much.

“Sorry Mom,” She’s a little breathless from the pokes Vex had given her and maybe from love, “Ah, how’s the coffee?”

Vilya swats at the air to knock aside the drivel small talk. She’s old enough to be allowed that privilege especially with her daughter. 

“How long have you two been married? Keyleth didn’t mention too terribly much. She mostly talked about your hair and your hands. And your voice.”

“ _Keyleth.”_ Vex gasps our, faux scandalized but looking utterly delighted. Vilya hides her smile behind her cup as Keyleth goes red to her ears and sinks a little deeper in her chair.

“We—stop looking at me like that Vex—we got married officially about a year after…everything. Here, of course, underneath the tree. Pike officiated and it was beautiful and perfect. But we did—during the chroma conclave, I blurted how I felt because I was afraid that we would die and then she _did_ die and it felt like my whole world dissolved until she was brought back. A little after that, we promised ourselves to each other. I count that as when we were married but if you want to go from officially then…22 years.” They share a loving look that is broken by Vex taking a long drag from her coffee but Vilya sees the roses that have bloomed high in the regal arches of her cheeks.

“That’s quite an accomplishment, sweetie. I’m happy for you, more than you know. I,” Vilya swallows against the years lost and the space they are dividing, chest tight with all the emotion stuck there, “When I held you the first time, I wanted a world of wonder, joy, and love for you and I wanted to be sure that you got it, no matter what. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here to make sure, my girl, but I’m glad that you found it for yourself. You deserve all of this and more, I’m sure.”

Keyleth blinks big eyes at her, wet with tears and all the things Vilya promised her as a newborn. Their hands reach for each other to squeeze for comfort, grounding them. Vex eyes the interaction with one of those sweeter smiles and parts her lips to speak but Vilya holds up a finger from her other hand.

“I’m not done,” Vex’s mouth clicks shut and she lifts an inquisitive brow, “For you, Vex’ahlia, I owe an apology too. My husband spoke fondly of your company for all the times he has met them and known them and, mostly, of your brother and yourself. I’m sorry that I was not be here to meet you and know you the same as him. I imagine that you are not seeking a new mother so I hope you do not take offense when I say that I am eager to spend time with you and do my best to become your family. By whatever means you find comfortable. You are, after all, every bit the person I always hoped Keyleth would partner with and I know I don’t know much of you yet but, your love for each other is the clearest thing I’ve seen and there is no way my daughter would give her whole heart to someone less than worthy of it. So, I think with time, we can be in a place where you will be happy to call me your mother in law. I…” Her mind drifts through the frazzled but precious memories that have returned in earnest and how they feel so little now, sitting before two women who have lived hard but full lives. She thinks of what she holds onto with a new determination, of the little Keyleth that runs wild through her mind, and how badly she wants the space of their many years ahead to be filled with new things. There must be understanding allotted to them and she is willing to give as much as is needed after all this time, but she wishes she could wipe it away and they could be a complete family again.

A warm, callused hand settles over Vilya’s second, curling around it slowly and gently and when she looks up in surprise, Vex is smiling at her. Hope blossoms warm and happy inside her, tingling to the fingers that are being squeezed by her daughter and by her daughter-in-law.

“I’d like to think that’s something we can manage. Besides,” And the way that word curls up at the end, all silky and playful makes Keyleth tilt her head towards her wife with a knowing frown, “I need help convincing Keyleth that six children is just the right number for us.”

Vilya blinks but laughs, slightly breathless from her own happiness, “Six? Oh my.”

Keyleth goes all pink and slaps at Vex’s shoulder, “Six is _way_ too many Vex! I’d be willing to do…four.”

Vex makes a little sound of deliberation, “What about we settle at five and call it a compromise?”

Vilya settles back into her chair, sipping at her coffee with a contentedness to watch them bicker about possible grandchildren but then something occurs to her and she jolts forward so quickly her coffee sloshes over onto her fingers. Keyleth startles too, blinking at her owlishly.

“Do you already have children that you haven’t told me about yet?”

“Ah,” Keyleth shifts in her seat, avoiding Vilya’s gaze and flushing to her ears, “No and yes. We are…in the process. That…kind of magic is fickle. Or at least, that’s what Allura says and she’s the one who we asked to help us. We haven’t been trying long, though.”

Vex nods and there is a light in her eye that Vilya knows very well. It is one that she herself had long ago. The glimmer of a woman very eager to be a mother.

“That’s wonderful. I’m glad that,” _that I haven’t missed that, at least, “_ you have help. It took your father and I quite a while too and that was all without the added complication of magic.”

Keyleth’s nose wrinkles which drags affectionate laughter from both her mother and wife. They go on to discuss the trials of parenthood and Vex blooms under the topic, clearly pressing into a deep passion of hers and Vilya’s chest warms with the budding love for her daughter-in-law. With a little pestering from Vilya, stories about their adventures together are brought up with far off looks and dazed smiles, stories that interweave beautifully with their love story and form a whole picture for Vilya to enjoy. They discuss, only briefly, the stories of Vilya’s time on Vo and, more prominently, the ragtag group of people that lifted the fog from her eyes and gave her back to them. Vex is intrigued by them and makes a note to herself to bring them up with a few council members. _In case they aren’t all they seem;_ she had said with a conspiratorial wink. Then, in the quiet hours just before sunset, they discuss Vax’ildan when they are warm and full and content, and they are ready for bittersweet things. Vex looks perpetually broken by his loss but there is still a fierce look in her eye that settles Vilya because it promises that she will continue to live, happily, even if his absence will always hurt. Keyleth speaks a little lighter, just as hurt but not nearly as broken, and they talk of his wonderful character and genuine spirit and Vilya feels sorry to never have met him. There is a promise made to visit his shrine in Whitestone. When at last the night comes to a close, Keyleth hugs her tightly and presses her face into Vilya’s tangle of hair and, momentarily, she is thrust back in time to when she had to lift Keyleth into her arms for hugs like these. It is, at last, the thing that pushes her insecurities and worries into a manageable pile and allows for comfort to settle over her along with hope. _They are going to be alright._ Vex doesn’t hug her—they aren’t there yet and Vilya is alright with that—but she does smile and wink and wave from the stoop with her arm around Keyleth’s waist. It feels so good that she simply stands there for a moment, clutching her staff in both hands and hugging it to her chest with her shoulders hitched up to her ears, watching them watch her. This is the action of a mother leaving after a visit with her _family._ After all her trials and time lost and worries and the ever-fresh conversation with Veth, she has at last by some blessing managed to cobble her family back together. No, it was not just her. They let her back in after she left them, and she still can’t quite believe it but they have done it. _Together._

“Mom?” Keyleth’s face pinches and she begins to leave the warm circle of Vex’s embrace but Vilya waves her away, eyes wet and heart thumping happily.

“It’s nothing. I’m just—" _Grateful, hopeful, happy beyond words, “_ No, it’s nothing. Goodnight. I love you.”

Keyleth tilts her head and gives a jovial wave, “Love you too Mom.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this y'all. It was entirely for myself because I needed Kiki to have her mom back but comments are always appreciated.


End file.
